Google has signed a deal with medical company Johnson & Johnson to make medical robots using artificial intelligence in an attempt to improve medical instruments using technology from other areas, such as its cars without driver. According to The Guardian, life sciences division of Google will work with the Ethicon company which manufactures medical devices, part of Johnson & Johnson, to create a robotic surgical platform to help physicians in the operating room. Robots will help surgeons in minimally invasive operations, giving physicians more control and performing proceedings with greater accuracy than is possible by hand, minimizing negative effects on the patient. Some systems allow surgeons to remotely control instruments which are placed inside the patient’s body to minimize injuries that occur for the access in the body and decrease the risk of bleeding and scars.
Robotic surgical systems, such as Da Vinci device, developed by Imperial College London, are used during operations from 2000 and this robots appeared even in a James Bond movie, in 2002 – “Die Another Day” by Lee Tamahori. Google believes it can improve robotic instruments using artificial intelligence technologies, including the visual information and their analysis, already used in other areas of the company’s business, such as driverless cars developed by the American giant. Both companies will investigate how advanced sensors and visual processing technologies can aid capabilities of the surgeon, for example, by highlighting the blood vessels, nerve cells, tumor boundaries and other important structures that would difficult to detect with the naked eye on a screen.
The partnership will help Johnson & Johnson, leader in the field of health care in the world, to compete in the field of robotic medical devices, which is in full swing. Google researchers develop systems that can detect cancer and heart attacks developed using nanoparticles and smart contact lenses that contain sensors that can monitor diabetes, technology that was licensed in July 2014 by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis to develop applications medical practice.
